Educators' Skills

Teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are two reasons why Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) in schools are becoming increasingly important part of pupils\' Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). SRE aims to build an understanding of human sexuality, and to provide young people with the confidence, knowledge and skills to make informed and responsible choices. There are two main settings where SRE is delivered: at schools (mainly by teachers and school nurses) and through outreach services (youth workers, social workers, sexual health advisors, etc.).

Sex educators at schools have the advantage of having children as captive listeners and the students already know and trust them. The educators have also some authority and the parents trust them more. However, children may not like to share all their concerns and questions with their educators and the educators might not be comfortable or competent in delivering sexual health messages, as they might come from a variety of non-relevant backgrounds. The outreach workers, on the other hand are mostly from a youth work background so they often are good in communicating with young people and gaining their trust. They are mostly young and enthusiastic, and often have had personal experiences of this kind. Their challenge is that they might not feel competent about their knowledge and handling troubled kids might become very difficult. Also, the staff turn over is relatively high and most of the outreach workers look at their jobs as a bridge to other careers.
This presentation will focus on the essential educator skills based on the literature, expert views and the findings of a qualitative study conducted by the presenter. The competencies will be categorized into core competencies and helpful-to-have skills and a hypothetical curriculum for sex educators training and development will be proposed.

Media

Dr Sara Nasserzadeh

Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD, DipPST1, is a social psychologist, a COSRT2 accredited psychosexual therapist and AASECT3 certified sexuality counselor. She is globally recognized for her contributions to the field of sexual and reproductive health at the clinical as well as policy and educational levels. Dr. Nasserzadeh is an award-winning author, BBC show host and consultant. Her TV show "Whispers" is the first that is dedicated to issues related to sexual health in Farsi and it is aired for all Farsi speaking around the world. She has worked across 37 countries helping various organizations, companies, communities, programs and causes in the capacity of a thought leader in the sociocultural aspects of human sexuality and effective communication with hard-to-reach groups including adolescents, religious communities and socially marginalized groups. She is a senior cultural advisor and has worked with variety of clients including the United Nations Populations Fund, World Population Foundation, Stanford University and New York Department of Health.

In addition to her clinical and consulting works, Dr. Nasserzadeh, contributes to the professional organizations in leadership capacities; to name a few, for the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), Dr. Nasserzadeh is a member of the Execurive Committee, she is an elected member or the Advisory Board and chairs the Middle East Sexual Health Committee. She was elected in 2006 to serve on the standardizing working groups for sexuality education as well as psychotherapy, which devise the global standard of practice for these professions. Dr. Nasserzadeh chairs the Middle East Sexual Health Committee at the World Association for Sexual Health. She chairs the North American Organizing Committee for the World Sexual Health Day (annualy held on september 4th). Dr. Nasserzadeh was elected as a member of Board of Directors at AASECT in Summer 2014. She chaired the Communication Steering Committee which oversees the journal of the association, website and member's list-serve. She is an ASSECT Certified Sexuality Counselor and Approved Training Provider.

Dr. Nasserzadeh has been a keynote speaker at various conferences and the recipient of numerous awards including the World Association for Sexual Health runner up award for Excellence and Innovation, for her international works in the area of sexuality education and sociocultural sensitivity (Sydney, 2007). She received the BBC World Service Award for "Innovation of the Year" for her program on sex and relationship issues (London, 2007). She has published several peer-reviewed articles, white papers, book chapters and two books. The book she co-authored with three esteemed colleagues was granted the AASECT Book Award Honorable Mention in 2011. Her most recent book is Sexuality Education Wheel of Context for educators, advocates and counselors.

1 DipPST: Postgraduate Diploma in Psychosexual Therapy2 COSRT: College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists3 AASECT: American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists